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The more technological we have become as humans, the more removed we are from nature and where our food comes from. Furthermore, with more people fleeing the countryside to live in the city, the city itself is ever expanding and creating new problems.
This has become an increasingly difficult situation, as St. Paul VI pointed out in his apostolic letter Octogesima Adveniens, speaking about the unique problems of increased urbanization.
Even more so, this increase in urbanization has led to the dissolution of family farms and the rise of industrial centers of agriculture, further impacting the care of creation. Pope Francis laments this industrialized approach to farming in his encyclical Laudato si'.
All of these new problems have been decades in the making. St. John XXIII saw this in the middle of the 20th century and wrote about it in his encyclical, Mater et Magistra.
He saw this as presenting unique problems, leading to an unbalanced economy, too heavily invested in industry and not enough in agriculture.
Furthermore, he saw farming as an essential part of Christian culture, especially in regards to family farms.
John XXIII mentions that farming, and family farms in particular, could be seen as a vocation.
While not everyone can (or should) be a farmer, it is a good reminder to us all that farming is a valid vocation and can lead to a fulfilling life.
It may not be easy, but farming can reap a bounteous harvest when seen in God's divine plan.
